We were lucky to catch up with Mary Frances Maker recently and have shared our conversation below.
Mary Frances, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?
Growing up, I always watched my dad, an entrepreneur himself, present various gifts to his clients around the holidays each year. As I got into high school with a car of my own, I was tasked with delivering these gifts – poinsettias, a sweater, bountiful bouquets of flowers, chocolates. It was his way of saying thank you, thank you for supporting his small business throughout the year. Being the delivery girl, I often got to witness the glees of delight from each recipient. They felt loved, thought of, and well taken care of. When I began my own business in 2015, I strived to make each customer feel this same way. Of course, each year during the holidays, I send a small gift of thanks to my best and most supportive customers. But also, since the pandemic and perhaps even before, I’ll send a little surcie around major holidays like Mother’s Day or the start of Fall just to say thank you, and I’m thinking of them. I always want my customers to know that I’m here to support them in their daily lives celebrating big accomplishments or milestones, I’m thinking of them and wishing them well, and I’m not just trying to sell them something. It’s the greatest joy to open my inbox or mailbox to a note of gratitude from a client. It’s relationship-building, because at the end of the day, I know that I would not be able to do what I love without their support.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
Hi! I am Mary Frances Maker, and I help clients redesign their family heirloom diamonds and gemstones into jewelry they absolutely love (and wear) so that they feel more grounded and connected to those they love most.
By trade, I’m a custom fine jewelry designer. I studied at a jewelry trade school in NYC as well as the GIA. While I’ve always focused on jewelry, I’ve certainly pivoted the style and caliber over the years. I began my business in Asheville, NC, where I feel in love with the mountains, nature, and being on my own. Then, due to a wandering heart (and a husband in sales), my little family and I have lived in various cities around the Southeast (Asheville, Raleigh, Charleston), and are now settled in Atlanta, GA. With each move, I’ve found new ways to reinvent myself and connect with the new community. It’s been a challenge, of course, but one that has shaped me as a business owner and allowed me to learn and empathize with my clients in a new ways.
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m a sentimental sap – I cry at even the thought of a sweet story. Enter: custom jewelry design. For me, it’s really all about the story and the way the piece makes a person feel. I work with clients one on one to reimagine their treasured heirlooms or create new ones. Maybe your grandmother left you a pair of gigantic pearl earrings that you will literally never wear (hello, happened to me). But, you love your grandmother, and you want to honor her by wearing the pearls. Don’t wear them as is – redesign them! And the best part is that once you reimagine those pearls into modern, minimalist pendant necklaces for you and your sister to share, you now have your very own family heirlooms to pass down to your daughter. Or, let’s say you’re getting married. You have a few small diamonds from a family member, but you need help with the big stone. I source, design, and create your loved one’s dream engagement ring, and with the smaller family diamonds, we’ll create a stunning and sentimental wedding band to complete the stack. A few years later, let’s augment her stack with a birthstone ring to honor your new baby. And for the little one? I’ll hand-carve a custom sterling silver baby rattle. If you’re in need of a keepsake, either made from scratch or using family stones, I’d be honor to tell your story through MFM custom accessories.
Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?
About a year into my business, I was moving from a house to an apartment within the city I lived. I had decided to get an office space outside of my home at some point in the past year so my monthly expenses were much higher than I was used to now with two rents. When you move, you typically have to put down a deposit and the first month’s rent in advance. So, as was expected, that is what I did – now, I was basically paying out 3 rents for that month. However, I didn’t have my deposit back from my current home, and my credit card was maxed. I remember ordering pizzas for my friends who had helped me move, and I was terrified I wouldn’t have enough cash in my account for the charge to go through. In fact, I’m fairly certain I overdrew my checking account with that pizza. I was sitting there with friends thinking well, maybe this move was my final straw – I have almost no money left – maybe it’s time to call it in and close up shop on the business. In that same moment, an order came through. One of my best clients had placed an order for 20x my typical average order value – it was my lifeboat. I’m forever thankful for that client, one whom I still work with today, 8 years later. Sometimes you just need one person to believe in you (or at least float you until you get back on your feet!)
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I’ve made alot of pivots in what I thought this business was going to look like in the past eight years. My dreams of it have changed more times than I can count, but I’ve always known in my gut that it would be successful. For about 7 years, I was making jewelry and doing everything I thought was “right” to sell it on my website and at wholesale into shops. However, I never really got to what I had envisioned – I didn’t get picked up by a large retailer like I’d hoped, I wasn’t making enough profit to feel comfortable, nor did I really feel that passionately about the pieces I was producing (biggest red flag of them all). I’d been dabbling in creating custom jewelry for clients by repurposing their family heirloom diamonds and gemstones into more modern styles, but I never foresaw it as a scalable business idea. After all, how do you scale an individualized service like custom jewelry? But, after offering custom work “on the side” for about 2.5 years, the numbers became increasingly clear – custom was where my business needed to go. In 2021, custom work was 70% of my total revenue. That was not something I could ignore. So, in January 2022, I made the terrifying decision to discontinue offering stock jewelry (pre-designed and ready to ship) on my website. Now, I only offer semi-custom styles and a few signature MFM pieces on my website. The rest of my time is dedicated to my custom work. I absolutely love working one on one with clients and actually getting to design FOR someone instead of creating designs to push into the void, crossing my fingers someone likes it and buys it. I think it’s clear to my clients how much passion I have behind what I do now versus before. I genuinely get emotional when meeting with clients about the pieces we’re going to dream up together. Taking that leap to drop stock jewelry and pivot to focus on custom work was the best decision I’ve made for my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: maryfrancesmaker.com
- Instagram: @maryfrancesmaker
Image Credits
Chasity Posey, Perry Vaile, Color Creative Co and Lauren Rosenau